How could I not
by InjuredMoonDance
Summary: Ochako was unsure how love worked, if there was some strange mysterious force that dictated who fell in love with who, or perhaps it might be a person with a quirk that worked underground that randomly took pictures of people and chose who loved who. It was simple and complicated at the same time, so all she had to do was wait for the best.


Ochako was unsure how love worked, if there was some strange mysterious force that dictated who fell in love with who, or perhaps it might be a person with a quirk that worked underground that randomly took pictures of people and chose who loved who. In either case, she would be delighted if she could have a friendly chat with that person and ask them why did they decided it was a good moment to give her those feelings.

It's not like the young girl had anything particular against them, oh no, on the contrary, she tried to embrace them as much as she could since the girl found the fact that it made the conversations harder than what they should be bothersome. The problem she had was that those feelings might not be reciprocated in the way she longed them to be. She found this to be quite a common fear when someone fell in love, especially when they fell in love with a friend, so she did what she could. She buried those feelings deep down and tried to focus on her duty, on her dreams, on her grades.

However, that did little to nothing to ease her growing feelings, it just kept at bay the way she showed them. It was barely anything, but it worked for her.

Izuku was reckless, and Ochako knew it like everyone else; but secretly she thought she probably knew it better than anyone due to midnight phone calls they swore to keep secret from everyone else, she loved those small details. She still recalled how he got so quiet for a few seconds she almost feared the line had cut when she asked about how he manifested his first quirk, he avoided the question and changed the topic. She tried not to bring out the topic ever again but tried to make him laugh narrating him how the first time her quirk manifested she had made her mom float and she and her father spent almost an hour trying to find a way to return gravity to her mother.

And he was growing so fast. When they began he was barely ten centimeters taller than her, now he was six feet tall. He now hardly ever broke a bone when fighting, although Ochako's heart still skipped a jump each time he got badly hurt; he was able to do so much, and she admired him for it.

Many people did as well.

They weren't even out of UA yet, and still the end of their high school days felt around the corner and Ochako was hyper aware she wasn't the only one who had realized Deku's attributes. There was a group of people who had also noticed him, maybe in the way Ochako had noticed, and it made her blood boil unwillingly.

She was delighted people began noticing him more and more, in her eyes he deserved that and so much more, she had a few pictures these people had creatively drawn or edited saved on a safe corner of her phone with a secure password for no one else to see. If anyone, especially if Deku were to find out her soul would immediately leave her body as an empty shell to navigate until the day her heart gave up.

And her heart was particularly persistent.

She sighed putting on her school uniform, it was way too early for her to even begin to get dressed but she woke up before her alarm sounded and trying to fall asleep again turned out to be an impossible task. She tried to entertain herself by playing on her cellphone but that only proved itself to be effective for a few minutes until she got tired of it.

Eventually Ochako took a shower and with her hair still wet she walked towards the kitchen, at least this time she might have time to make herself a decent breakfast instead of a toast and a glass of milk

-Good Morning Uraraka- a voice called her attention and she let out a small yelp afterwards, being one hour and a half left before classes began she expected the kitchen to be empty.

Of course there was Izuku in a grey shirt and navy blue shorts sweating.

-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you- he apologized leaving the cup he was previously holding in the counter

-I thought you didn't like coffee- she talked back with a curious glance staring at the cup and the vapor that came from it

-I don't- he confirmed -This is tea, want some?- he asked, she walked her way towards the shelves

-Thank you- she smiled as she tried to reach for a cup but all of them were unusually tall. She cursed Kaminari in the back of her head as she stood on her tiptoes, knowing it was probably a prank he had set up.

-Here- Izuku walked behind her and handing her a black and pink spotted cup. Ochako looked at the cup now in her hands surprised he even remembered this was her favorite

-Thank you, I don't know who placed the dishes so high- she mumbled as she drank the content Izuku had placed into the cup, it warmed her from the inside -Why are you up this early?- She asked

-I went for a morning run- he smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his head -And you?-

-Couldn't sleep- she answered simply, his mouth curved in an o

-Next time something like this happens you can call me, maybe we can go together?- Ochako almost choke on her tea at the invitation and his face covered itself in red-That's of course, if you want to! You don't have to or feel like you have to feel obligated to, who would want to go run in the morning…- he began mumbling and trailing off

-Do you want breakfast?- She asked opening the fridge the school constantly kept full keeping her eyes focused on the food inside

-You don't have to- Izuku tried to mediate -I can make my own breakfast-

-Take it as a fair exchange- She offered -You give me tea, I give you breakfast-

-But then you have to let me help you- He countered -You might need help to reach the higher shelves- he smiled, and even if she knew there was no ill intention behind his words she still pouted

-Fine- she mumbled -Have you ever tried Chocolate pancakes?- She questioned as she put on an apron wondering why didn't she have breakfast before putting her uniform on.

-I haven't- Izuku said as he handed the brunette the flour she seemed to have trouble reaching

-They are delicious! Specially with chocolate on top- Ochako said excited as she began mixing the ingredients

-Then I can't wait- He smiled as he waited for her to finish the mix so he could be the one to flip them.

While they made the breakfast, the talked about the homework from the day before, plans for the weekend and how he would probably go and visit his mother like he usually did on weekends. She commented she will go out with Mina, Momo and Tooru since Tsuyu had other plans.

Izuku spend a good portion of the breakfast complimenting the pancakes and trying to eat as many as he was able to grab with his fingers. Ochako smiled at his enthusiasm glad he had liked them.

Once they were done they did the dishes and he hurried to take a bath, the young 17 year old girl sat on the couch to watch TV as she waited for him and Iida

The rest of the day continued without any inconvenience and Ochako had gracefully avoided being questioned about her literature homework, she had done it, but still rather avoid answering any questions about her interpretations of the characters and the story.

The last class of the day was in TDL where they assignment was an extreme version of cops and robbers, and once you got caught you had to wait on the edge until your entire team was out. Unfortunately, Ochako had ended up being caught by Mina because she had failed to see her hiding. Sighing in defeat she sat in one bench cheering on her team who currently held the lead against Deku's team who was chosen as the cops. Suddenly she felt a vibration at her side and looked for the source finding a familiar cellphone with an All Might phone case.

-Deku!- She screamed at him from the other side of the field aware that if it was a message during school hours it was probably something important-You got a text, it's from…- As she unlocked the screen, Ochako was barely able to read the person who had sent the message with her eyes sealed on the lock screen image.

There was a picture of her, a rather cute drawing that depicted her floating in the space, with her hands together and a smile. The art was cute, but she was unaware people drew her, she had barely any second to put her mind to work on that, it was having an overload with the information that Deku kept her as a lock screen image.

-I'm so sorry!- He said taking the phone from her stiff hands, the sound of his voice brought her back to earth and helped her face to get colored by different shades of red. -You weren't supposed to see that!- he tried his face bright red, almost dropping his phone a couple times before grabbing it

-You have… a picture of… -

-I swear I'm not creepy or anything like that!- he said clasping his hands together kneeling on the ground -Please forgive me!-

She looked at him astonished the six feet tall boy was in front of her on his knees with his hands clasped over his green hair. Ochako began to make frantic motions for him to stand up before someone else could see them and get the wrong idea, or worst case scenario, someone could take a picture and upload it to the internet.

-I forgive you! I forgive you!- she said quickly desperately trying to stand up. Noticing he barely moved she touched him causing the young man to float. Upon noticing the accident, she quickly released her quirk

-I'm so sorry Deku!- She knelt beside his laying body -It was an accident I swear!- She said raising her hand

-I don't deserve you- he mumbled with tears in his clutching his hand against his chest as he continued laying on the ground

-Please stand up- She insisted covering her face. He smiled softly sitting on the floor next to her.

She tried to calm herself down, and after a couple seconds of silence a question in the back of her mind finally manifested in her lips

-Why do you have a picture of me?- Ochako questioned without looking him at the face, he rubbed the back of his neck

-Oh-he said, the question catching him off guard -I think the artist did a really good job capturing you. I liked it, of course, it doesn't compare to the real you but it's still good- Ochako's heart skipped a beat as her mind was fully aware he had said something like that without noticing, that's just how nice he was.

The bell signaling the end of class made noise across the school closing the game declaring Ochako's team as the winner since they had more players on the field. Deku went out of the class as fast as he could

-Uraraka!- She heard Kirishima's voice calling her when she was at the gym's door making her turn towards him letting her brown hair bouce -Remember You, Ojirou, Jirou and I have to clean to classroom today-

-I forgot! -Ochako said covering her mouth -Just let me change into my uniform and I'll join you guys in a second-She declared running towards the girl's changing room.

She was surprised when she realized she was the first one to arrive at the classroom, remembering she had walked pass Ojirou and Jirou on her way without noticing them. However, it didn't take them too long to arrive with what they would need to clean the classroom.

-Oi! Uraraka- Kirishima said as he swept the floor alongside her -Why was Midoriya kneeling in front of you? It was pretty funny- The question took the girl aback as she dropped her broom only to pick it up again.

-H-h-He dropped money- she yelped as she caught the broom from falling a second time -Yes! money and he was kneeling to see clearer and not lose the money, that he dropped-

She noticed as he laughed at his answer

-Whatever you say- he smiled as both of them finished their duties and got ready to leave.

When she left the classroom biding her goodbyes to her friends she found Izuku outside of the classroom sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. Ochako knew he always waited for her, but if something similar had happened to her she would have probably tried to avoid his face for the rest of the school year, which would have been difficult since she sat behind him.

The two of them began walking the nearly empty hallways of UA in silence, none daring to say a word.

-I lied to you- Izuku blurted putting an end to the silence. She stopped her steps looking at him with her brown eyes as his green eyes stared at the front, the pink in his cheeks didn't go unnoticed from her.

-Excuse me?- she questioned her voice stumbled a little, as her mind found something like that hard to believe

-I didn't have that picture just because the art was good- His hands clenched to each side of his body, almost reminding her of Iida's characteristic stiffness -I had it because, the truth is, I really, really like you Ochako- She stood there quiet, letting her mind process carefully what he had said unable to come with a proper response, it had to be a dream, it was far too good to be real.

Ochako nervously pulled out her cellphone almost dropping it in the process leaving the boy's mind fumble for a few seconds and imagine the worst. She unlocked it seconds after, her cheeks were pinker than usual and her face lit up with a smile

-Now we can match- she smiled showing him a background with him in it. -Which is good, because I like you too Izuku, I have for a while. I was… afraid-

Ochako saw his face lit up suddenly and a smile in his face grow bigger, as his arms surrounded her smaller frame.

-I do- he whispered into her ear. -And I would love if you wanted to be my girlfriend-

-Then it's good that that's what I want- She held him tighter.

They had agreed to keep their relationship a secret in the meantime, well from everyone but Iida who spent so much time with the duo he had caught up with the small clues, like how they let him walk in front of them so they could join their pinky fingers, too nervous to hold hands. And it was perfect like that, the blue haired was far too happy for both of them and always came up with excuses to cover them if the need came.

Ochako felt like if she was walking on a cloud made out of cotton candy, feeling happiness at the palm of her hand. She loved when their fingers brushed, when he kissed her cheek nervous once and appeared to have been frozen when she returned the gesture, they kept messaging each other like usual, he remembered to bring her lunch despite her protests when she skipped hers to save money and they tried to have breakfast together. However, there were days when she noticed he forced the smile, when the messages came slower, or when he seemed to stare at her and looked at the ground when she returned the gesture with a smile.

That made her feel there was something wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it could be.

A soft knock on her door stopped Ochako's mind from fully dwelling into the homework ahead of her, she waited to see if the person behind knocked again, but when that didn't happen she returned her eyes to the homework in her desk trying not to fall asleep in the middle of the calculous exercise and let her brain do a hard reset on what had been so difficult for her to learn.

It was then when her phone signaled a message, she looked at it noticing it came from Izuku but as soon as she opened the messaging app the message was vanished.

"Did you send something?" She sent, the reply came almost immediately  
"Yes  
No  
Forget about it"

She furrowed her eyebrows curious, in the almost three years they had been friends he had never deleted the messages, even those he had accidentally sent with his butt, they still remained on her phone. Ochako tried to dismiss the idea that something was wrong, Izuku would have told her.

But then again, when did Izuku ever told anyone when something was wrong?

Ochako sighed realizing she wouldn't advance much in her homework unless she stopped worrying and she wouldn't worry unless she was certain nothing was wrong.

Taking her bedroom key and closing the door she made her way towards his bedroom trying to avoid appearing suspicious if anyone asked. When she stood in front of his door she finally wondered if she wasn't technically being too noisy

-Izuku- she prompted softly swallowing her doubt through the still closed door letting her knuckles touch the wood just strong enough to be hearable by the person inside. She had read in a book that once people began dating calling each other on a first date basis was normal, and unable to ask any of her friends for advice due to being unprepared to let out the fact that she was dating her best friend she decided to follow the books advice finding the word strange as it came out of her lips.

-Is everything okay? I couldn't read your text, so I wanted to check how you were- she knocked on the door once again wondering if it would be too intrusive to turn the doorknob and let herself in. Taking a deep breath, she tried to settle herself down as her cheeks tinted themselves pinker than usual.

-I'm going to come inside, okay?- she commented waiting for a few seconds to let him do whatever he could be doing.

Ochako opened the door slowly and carefully, it was unknown to her if he kept the door open all the time or if he knew she would come and this was a rare occurrence. The room was still full of All Might merch, however, alongside the hero's merch she crossed her eyes with a handmade watercolor poster of her and a lot of pictures of their classmates, students who have graduated, him and his parents.

She found him amidst the memorabilia sitting in his bed with his back against the wall, two notebooks side by side in front of him and he stared at them so intently she thought he might be trying to shoot lasers out of his eyes.

-Are you doing homework?- she asked leaning closer.

-No, I was checking something- He was pulling his lower lip, a gesture he never abandoned, Ochako sat at the edge of the bed.

-What were you checking?- She questioned paying attention at both notebooks in front of the boy, one of them had two sketches of her, one in her uniform and other one in her first hero suit, the second one had a sketch of Izuku in his first hero uniform and middle school uniform.

-I just can wrap my mind around it, it barely makes any sense- He continued almost as if he was unaware of Ochako's presence.

-What? -She questioned

-How can you like me- he said finally turning his eyes to her, every hint of happiness that store in them when he confessed in the school'd hallway, instead his eyes looked deep and afflicted. Her heart sunk.

-How could I not?- It was the instinctive response that came from her lips, as she took the notebook with his picture on it recognizing his calligraphy all over it, even with slight changes across the time it was still his.

-You deserve someone better- Was the answer that came from him -Someone who didn't have to struggle almost his entire first year to manage to use his quirk without breaking a bone, someone who is one accident away from losing the mobility in his arms, someone who isn't so… pathetic. Who isn't a ridiculous fanboy- He sunk into himself placing his head between his knees with his forehead in his arms no longer able to look at her in the eyes.

Those words were harsh, but it hardly ever came close to what he had written in the notebook. They were nearly despicable, Ochako wondered how did he muster the courage to write something like that about himself, then she remembered how stubborn he was and it made sense, he had pushed himself to write that despite the pain it probably caused him and it broke her heart, how someone so wonderful thought so lowly about himself.

When her hands took a grasp on the other notebook it was almost as if it was written by two completely different people despite having the same calligraphy, the part with her name was full of kind heartwarming things and even when writing about her fighting struggles it made sure to add compliments and advice on how to improve making her wonder if he had ever thought about sharing it with her when he first wrote it. She closed the notebook slowly as she tried to approach him placing one of her hands on top of his.

-How could I have not liked with the boy who writes such wonderful things about me- she smiled softly -Who makes small sketches about me, keeps me as his lock screen, it's so amazingly stubborn to the point that will keep fighting even when his arms are broken, who does his best for everyone whether they need it or not. Someone who forgives no matter what, someone who pushed through every obstacle, someone who helps me be the best version of myself without even knowing it. Someone who does more than what he should and still does it with a smile. Please come here and tell me I shouldn't have liked the boy who waited for me every day when I had to help clean up the classroom just so I wouldn't return home alone in the night- She said with a smile carefully placing the notebook in a small table and the edge of the bed over a bunch of magazines.

Ochako took a deep breath before moving to his side letting her head fall over his shoulder, he was barely moving but she could feel the compass of his body as it took deep breaths and for the moment that was fine. Izuku slowly lowered his knees and raised his head to place it on top of Ochako's. Her heart skipped a beat when he did that, but she didn't say anything.

-I hope you mean that- he said with a low voice

-I would never dare to lie to the boy in my lock screen- she said trying to look at the notebooks as her face grew redder, she could feel his shoulders moving as an spontaneous laugh erupted from him. She smiled shyly.

-Hey, it's Friday- she began -Would you like to go out? I think I can afford a movie this time.- Ochako invited as she tried to make the math in her head so see how much she would probably spend.

-No, this has to be my threat- Izuku said as he lifted himself from the bed and lend her a hand so she could do the same.

-You don't have to feel forced to pay for everything, let me pay every once in a while- She pouted as she carefully placed her feet on the floor and stood up. in front of him, sometimes it was hard to remember how tall he actually was.

-But I do it because I want to- He alleged.

-Fine- she said dragging the word trying to keep in mind to convince him to at least pay half of it -Just give me a second to change-

-Why?- he questioned-You look lovely like this- she looked at herself wearing a brown overall and a pink blouse and black long socks. Ochako hid her face between her hands.

-Stop it- She mumbled stealing another smile from him who laid a kiss on her forehead and used his hand to cover the lower half of his face and hide a still noticeable blush.

-Shall we go?- Izuku invited and she nodded walking first through the door waiting as he closed the door behind himself.


End file.
